Washington must get serious about strong oversight, accountability

"Warren Calls For New Glass-Steagall Act Wants Consumers Safe From Wall Street Gambles"

"Wall Street gets all the special breaks while working families get hammered. That’s what I want to change."
-Elizabeth Warren

BOSTON – As JP Morgan, the nation’s largest bank, answers questions about $2 billion in losses, consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren in a new radio message released today (5/15) says the Wall Street banks "are still at it gambling recklessly" and it won’t change "until Washington gets serious about strong oversight and real accountability."

"The problem is: in Washington money talks and Wall Street has plenty of money to spread around. So Wall Street gets all the special breaks while working families get hammered. That’s what I want to change," Warren tells Massachusetts in her radio message. Warren took on Wall Street, the big banks, and their army of lobbyists to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as part of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform bill.

Warren is calling for a new Glass-Steagall Act, the law passed in the wake of the Stock Market Crash in 1929 to keep high risk banking separate from more traditional banking. The law was repealed in 1999.

"JP Morgan’s recent losses show that there are still serious risks in our banking system, and if we don’t act, then the next trade that goes bad could threaten our whole economy," Warren said. "A new Glass-Steagall would separate high-risk investment banks from more traditional banking. It would allow Wall Street to take risks, but not by dipping into the life savings and retirement accounts of regular people."

Warren has been pressing for more accountability and stronger rules to prevent the risky bets that allowed the big banks to crash the U.S. economy in 2008 and then needed billions in taxpayer bailouts.

"Wall Street isn’t going to change its ways until Washington gets serious about strong oversight and real accountability – no special deals," Warren says in the radio message. "We need a tough cop on the beat to make sure that nobody steals your purse on Main Street or your pension on Wall Street."

Republican Senator Scott Brown’s pro-Wall Street voting record and millions in Wall Street campaign contributions led one media commentator to describe the Massachusetts Senate race as "Wall Street’s Favorite Senator vs. Wall Street’s Strongest Critic." The Boston Globe, reporting on the fundraising committee Brown shares with national Republicans, said Brown "delivered for Wall Street," and noted he’d raised more than $2 million from the financial industry.

"There’s a real choice in this election and it’s about whose side you’re on," said Warren. "Scott Brown sides with Wall Street and they’re investing to keep him in the Senate. I’ve taken on Wall Street and will keep taking on Wall Street to stand up for Massachusetts’ middle class families."

Listen to the radio message here.

A transcript follows:

Elizabeth Warren for MA
"Still At It"
Radio :60

Elizabeth Warren:
Did you see the headline? One of America’s biggest banks lost $2 billion in just a few weeks.

Even now, Wall Street banks that got bailed out are still at it gambling recklessly.

This is Elizabeth Warren. I stood up to big banks. I took on their army of lobbyists and help win the fight for a consumer protection agency. But there’s still more to do. Wall Street isn’t going to change its ways until Washington gets serious about strong oversight and real accountability – no special deals. We need a tough cop on the beat to make sure that nobody steals your purse on Main Street or your pension on Wall Street. The problem is: in Washington money talks and Wall Street has plenty of money to spread around. So Wall Street gets all the special breaks while working families get hammered. That’s what I want to change.

I’m Elizabeth Warren candidate for U.S. Senate and I approve this message. Paid for by Elizabeth for MA.